Saturday, July 26, 2008

Upcoming books!

It's that time of year again.. when I write up a long, long post with pretty covers and little blurbs about all the books I've sold, which will be hitting a bookstore near you! =)

First up and already available on Amazon is THE JIGSAW MAN by Gord Rollo. It's a true horror novel--a Faustian tale of a man who will go to all lengths to save his family, even if it means sacrificing his own body to do so. The book trailer is below for you to watch; it's bloody, be forewarned.

Next up is the sequel to THE PRINCES OF THE GOLDEN CAGE. It's THE KING'S DAUGHTERS by Nathalie Mallet, where Prince Amir travels to Princess Eva's home country of Sorvinka. An icy land, a wretched castle, and the unexplained disappearances of Eva's sisters all add up to a new magical mystery for him to solve.

The official description reads as follows:"Far to the north of the hot desert land of Telfar lies the frozen kingdom of Sorvinka. Prince Amir has traveled there, leaving his sultanate in the hands of his half-brother Erik as he seeks to ask the king, the father of the beautiful Princess Eva, for her hand in marriage. But Sorvinka has grown dangerous during Princess Eva's absence, as she and Amir discover to their terror, when their force of guards and eunuchs is cut down by ruthless brigands. And upon their arrival, their welcome to Eva's family stronghold is as bitterly cold as the land itself. Accustomed to the golden cage of his upbringing, Prince Amir must navigate his way through the strange and cold-blooded customs of the Sorvinkans, and somehow find the truth behind the kidnapping of the king's youngest daughter, the Princess Aurora, by the Sorvinkan's traditional enemies, the neighboring Farrellians. But what can a stranger in a foreign land do?"

This book was supposed to be out at the end of July, but it's been delayed by about a month, so that it could be made extra-special shiny for you. It should be out about the end of August.

After that we have not one, but TWO new anthologies edited by John Joseph Adams.

This is the Publisher's Weekly review that it got:"This thought-provoking anthology of nine original stories posits near-future paradigm shifts in everything from race relations (in Ted Kosmatka's vivid and moving "N-Words," where cloned Neanderthals encounter violent hatred from Homo sapiens) to the morality of uploaded consciousness (in Blake Charlton's clumsy but charming "Endosymbiont"), with varying success. The hero of Jay Lake's "The Future by Degrees" invents an energy-saving thermal superconductor only to be pursued by corporations protecting their business, with predictable results. Pepper, the mercenary hero of Tobias S. Buckell's Crystal Rain, refuses to assassinate a dictator in the morally contrived "Resistance." Considerably more powerful is Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu's "Spider the Artist," which combines African folk tales and advanced robotics in a chilling story about a rising social conscience in the Nigerian oil fields. Despite weak spots, this anthology accurately reflects many of today's most pressing political and social issues, and will give readers plenty to think about and argue over. (Aug.)"

The second anthology is another great reprint anthology. Except instead of post-apocalyptic stories this time, John has searched for the best of the best zombie stories out there. THE LIVING DEAD edited by John Joseph Adams, features stories by Neil Gaiman, George R. R. Martin, Laurell K. Hamilton, Clive Barker, Joe Lansdale, Poppy Z. Brite, and a double bonus dose of both Stephen King and Joe Hill--and that's only a few of the authors included in this massive volume. What better way to be prepared for the zombie apocalypse than by reading this book? It'll be out at the end of September.

Finally, last, but not least... a paranormal romance for all you fans of that genre!

RED by Jordan Summers is a gritty near-future paranormal romance. A modern day spin on the fairytale of Little Red Riding Hood--where Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf are one and the same.

Here's the product description for the book:"Gina Santiago is a member of an elite tactical team in charge of protecting the world. She’s devoted her life to apprehending the most heinous criminals that prey on society—and now she’s after the worst one yet.

On her own, with no backup, the trail takes her to a dusty, tight-knit town on the fringes of society, where everyone’s a suspect. Even the sexy sheriff, Morgan Hunter, isn’t telling her everything. Gina knows he’s trouble, but she’s inexorably drawn to him.

The closer Gina comes to finding out the secret of this sleepy little town and its big bad sheriff; the closer she comes to catching the predator, the more scared she gets—because she’s beginning to realize that she has a secret, too. A secret that will change Gina’s life… and make her the killer’s prey."

It'll be out in the beginning of November and it's the start of a paranormal series that you don't want to miss.

Gord's book, THE JIGSAW MAN, is bloody horror--not normally my cup of tea. But it's incredibly well-written, and besides that, I just really liked it once I had read the whole thing. We've since sold a second (even bloodier!) book for him, and there's a couple of new projects that are on the back burner for him.

Nathalie's book, THE KING'S DAUGHTERS, is a sequel to THE PRINCES OF THE GOLDEN CAGE. I like Prince Amir; I like his mysteries; and when I first got the rough draft of this one, I stayed up till 3 am in the morning reading it. =)

John's two anthologies both sprang up out of ideas suggested by their respective publishers--they approached him to edit them, which is always a nice little thing.

Jordan's book, RED, was the type of paranormal romance I like to read. It's got sex appeal by the dozens, but besides that, it has a plot, characters you care about, and a good story. She's since moved on to a different agent, but I know she was looking to eventually write some urban fantasy--this book comes pretty close, in my opinion.

Did the fact that Gord had been published before in small press horror influence your decision to rep. him for TJM (but TJM wasn't published at all before now, right?) Or would you have taken on TJM no matter what the author had done before?